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Utah’s and 27 other attorneys generals have taken bipartisan legal action against the DNA testing company 23andMe.
The lawsuit is to prevent the DNA company, which went bankrupt last March, from selling millions of Americans’ personal genetic and health information.
The 28 attorneys general, including Utah’s Derek Brown, argue that such sensitive information should not be auctioned off as it is “incredibly sensitive and personal,” Douglas Crapo, consumer protection deputy for the Office of the Utah Attorney General, said in a press release.
Utah Attorney General-elect Derek Brown is photographed at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News
In March, when the company filed for bankruptcy, its buyer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, assured users their private data would remain secure. But the state of Utah and others in the complaint filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Missouri are adamant that a judge must declare “23andMe’s customers have inherent common law rights of ownership or control in (a) their biological material,” per the lawsuit.
“Virtually all of this personal information is immutable. If stolen or misused, it cannot be changed or replaced,” the lawsuit continued. “Furthermore, this data is exclusively personal and unique, representing that customer’s identity and no other human being.”
A spokesperson for 23andMe told Business Insider that the complaints’ arguments are “without merit, and we will address them at the sales hearing.”
Katie Hass, director of the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, countered in her own statement that “The company’s intent to sell this data to the highest bidder is an egregious betrayal of that trust and will not be tolerated.”
“Every consumer should have the right to decide how this intimate, personal, and unique data is handled going forward.”
How to delete your data
To delete personal data from 23andMe, California Attorney General Rob Bonta shared the following 8-step procedure:
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Log in to your 23andMe account on their website.
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Go to the “Settings” section of your profile.
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Scroll to a section labeled “23andMe Data” at the bottom of the page.
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Click “View” next to “23andMe Data.”
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Download your data: If you want a copy of your genetic data for personal storage, choose the option to download it to your device before proceeding.
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Scroll to the “Delete Data” section.
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Click “Permanently Delete Data.”
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Confirm your request: You’ll receive an email from 23andMe; follow the link in the email to confirm your deletion request.
